Field of the Development
This disclosure relates to the field of the transportation, delivery, storage and/or other handling of one or several items and the field of communication, tracking, and control of the transportation, delivery, storage and/or other handling of one or several items. More particularly, the disclosure relates to such fields as they include electronic parcel lockers.
Description of the Related Art
Delivery and receipt of items from one person or company to another is a crucial need in today's economy. Ensuring fast, reliable and simple handling of such items is therefore desirable. This is especially true with items that are too large to fit in conventional mail boxes or Post Office boxes. Further, the volume of “failed first attempts,” in which a recipient is unable to receive the first attempted delivery of an item, by the United States Postal Office in 2012 was over 135 million, presenting another issue with delivery that may be improved.
Existing methods and systems that allow for delivery and receipt of items are not convenient. For instance, failed first attempts and parcels that do not fit inside a recipient's mailbox may be brought back and stored behind the counter at a delivery service, such as the Post Office. The recipient of the box must then travel to the delivery service, wait in line, and retrieve the parcel from an employee at the counter. Or, a delivery agent must retry delivery by physically bringing the parcel to the home or office of the recipient. In such cases, the delivery agent and/or the recipient are inconvenienced. Further, the delivery service may be closed when the recipient goes to retrieve it, or the delivery agent may not be working or may be running behind, or the recipient may not be home or at the office when the item is re-delivered.
Further, conventional systems require physical keys to be used to access storage units. Difficulties are presented when keys are lost or stolen. Keys may also be easily duplicated and thus may not be the most secure means for accessing a unit. The number of keys in existence for a unit also requires tracking and keeping an inventory for the keys and their whereabouts, etc.
There is, therefore, a need for a simpler and more convenient method of delivery and receipt of items to a recipient to address the aforementioned issues. Toward this end, the present disclosure provides systems, devices and methods that allow for simpler and more convenient delivery, receipt, storage and other actions related to the handling of an item.